Ammunition feed box



/ June 11, 146. E: H, lRAsEK AMMUNITION FEED BOX Filed June 26, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l I7 38 30 3/ 29 I4 [5 I6 INVENTOR v v EUGENE H. /RA$EK v ATTORNEY Patented June 11, 1946 TES UNHED- (Granted under the act of March 3', 1882', as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 2 Claims.

Theinvention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes'without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an ammunition feedbox for machine guns, and particularlyto a feedbox having means for rapidly advancing the initial or forward end of the cartridge belt into the gun where it can be engaged by the gun mechanism, without raising the gun cover.

One object of the invention is to provide an ammunition magazine having a slide on the cover of the magazine box for rapidly and easily advancing the first cartridge of the belt into the gun, and means for locking the slide in its advanced and retracted positions.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a magazine feed pawl attached to the forward end of the slide to prevent the belt of cartridges from moving into or out of the box when the slide is locked in its retracted position, and to prevent the belt from falling back into the box when the slide is in its advanced position, the pawl engaging the cartridges to move them into the gun when the slide is movedfrom its retract ed position to its advanced position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an; ammunition feedbox which is inexpensive, light in weight, and adapted to be manufactured in large quantities.

These and further objects of my invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanving drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved ammunition feedbox showing the slide in its retractedposition;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 4 l of Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the box showing the slide in its retracted position in solid lines, and in its advanced position in chain lines; and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the upper portion of the box with part of the upper side wall broken away to show the position of the pawl as a cartridge passes beneath it when the slide is in its advanced position.

Referring to the drawings, the box Ill is provided with a cover ll hinged to the box at l2. A latch I3 is provided for holding the cover in its closed position. In the end of the cover adjacent the gun is a cut-out portion l4. On each side of the cut-out portion, a metal strip 15 is attached to the cover so as to form a slot I6,

2 as shown in Figs". 1 arid 3. Mounted on the cover and riding in the slots IB' is a slide I! formed with bent-out portions l8 which fit into the slots. Attached to the bottom wall of the slide is a base piece 19' which also extends" into the slots. In

order toprevent the slide from moving beyond the desired advanced and retracted positions, a cut-out portion 20 is provided in the out-turned edge. portions of the slide which extend into the slots. Suitable detents such as screws 2i extend through the metal strips forming the slot and into the cover so as to lie'in the cut-out portions '29, best shown in Fi 4'. g I p A'sl'ide handle 22' is attached to the rear end of the slide lay-means of a hinge rod 2'3 which is keyedfto the handle as shown in Fig. 1'. The rod 23 is formed with a net side 24 in its central portio'rito' exerta'car'n action on the upturned rear portion of a resilient member 25 whenthe handle 22 is"raised. Th'resilient member 25 is attached at its forward end to the base portion of the slide and carfie's a downwardly extending detent 26 which is adapted to project into holes 21am 28 in the cover of the box to'lock' the slide in its retracted and advanced positions.

Attachedto the forward end of the slide ll is a' pawl 29 which extends downwardly into the cartridge exit. The pawl is hinged tothe slide at 30" and is urged downwardlyby a spring 3 l to tlie' osition shown in Fig". 2. slots 32 in each end' of the pawl are so positioned that the edges of the cutaway portions M of the cover extend into them whenthe slide is in its retracted position, as shown in- Figs. I and 4, thus preventing rotation of the pawl. When the slide is in its advanced position, as shown in Fig. 5 and by the chain lines in Fig. 4, the pawl 29 lies outside the cut-out portion M of the cover and is therefore nee to be moved upwardly against the pressure of spring 3| to permit passage of the cartridges outwardly through the cartridge exit asthe gun is fir'ed. neither the advanced nor the retracted position of the slide can the pawl be turned downwardly past the position shown in Fig. 2 due to the fact that its upper portion 38 bears against the upper part of the slide Ii. Thus, when the slide is in its advanced position, the pawl 29 can move upwardly to permit passage of the cartridges out of the box but is held against downward movement, thus preventing the cartridges from falling back into the box. In Fig. 5, the pawl is shown in its raised position as a cartr'idge passes between the pawl and the shelf For the purpose of increased rigidity, the cover is formed with bent-under edge portions 34 and 35, as is the box at 33. Transverse ridges 36 in the cover also add strength to that part.

The shelf 31 defines the lower wall of the cartridge exit, the shelf being so positioned as to extend into the feedway of the gun when the ammunition box is mounted on the gun. Bentover end portions 39 of the shelf serve as additional guides for the cartridges. The inner por tion of the shelf 31 is bent downwardly at 40 to form a curved cartridge guide. a 7

In operation, the box is placed in anammunition box adaptor which is mounted adjacent the,

so as to provide a continuous cartridge passage connecting the cartridge exit of the ammunition boxwith thev gun feedway. Whena fresh box of ammunition is taken from stowage, the slide is locked in its retracted position. To feed the first cartridges into the gun, the slide handle 22 is raised asjoy striking with the heel of the hand. This rotates the hinge rod 23 which, by the cam action of its fiat portion 24, raises the rear end of the resilient member 25, thus lifting the detent dog 26 clear of the hole 21 in the cover of the box. The slide is then free to move to its forward position by continued pressure on the handle 22. c When the slide reaches its advanced position, its movement is halted by the rear end of the cut-out portion of the slide contacting detents 2|. Pressure on the handle is then released and the handle is movedto its horizontal or lower position; as shown in Fig. 5, thus allowing the resilient member 25 to lower the detent 26 into hole 28 in the cover of the box to lock the. slide in its advanced position. Movement of the slide to its forward position moves the first cartridge of the belt into the feedway of the gun where it is engaged by the feed mechanism of the gun. Thereafter, the gun is charged twice and is then ready for firing. i

It isan important feature of my invention that when the slide is locked in its retracted position,-

the pawl 29 is locked in its downward position due to the fact that the slots 32 in the pawl engage the edges of the cut-away portion Id of the box cover, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Since the lower part of the pawl is positioned between ad jacent cartridges in the belt when in the retracted position, the cartridges are, positively held' against motion either into or out of the box.

This assures that the fresh box of ammunition will always be ready for immediate use withthe cartridges in their correct position for rapid feeding into the gun. When the slide is 'in' its ad' 4 to move upwardly against the pressure of sprin 3| to permit the passage of cartridges beneath it out of the feedbox, as shown in Fig. 5.

When loading the magazine, the slide on the cover is pulled all the way back until detent 2| contacts the forward end of the cut-out portion 20 of the slide, at which position the slide detent engages the hole 21 in the cover. It is important for the slots in the pawl 29 to engage the edges of the cut-out portion I4 of the cover, as previously explained, in order to prevent the cartridges from fallin into or out of the magazine during stowage. With the magazine feed pawl 29 in this position, there should be three cartridges and no extra link in the cartridge exit of the magazine beyond the magazine feed pawl when the cover is -latched in position.

With the'feedbox positioned and the slide advanced, the cover of the gun may be raised for the purpose of gaining access to the bolt to clear stoppages without fear of disarranging the belt or the end cartridges because thepawl willfhold' the belt in the feedway of. the gun and will not permit thebelttofall back into the box. n V

I claim for controlling movement of said ammunition, comprising a cover onsaid box, aslide'm'ounted on said 'cover and selectively movable to ad-' vanced and retracted positions a. feed -pawl hingedto'said slide andoperablyeng'ageable with said ammunition to control 'movem'entfthereof,

tion, and constructedgto. prevent pivotal move- I mentof the pawl from itsammunition'en'gaging position and thereby lock said 1 ammunition against movement, and sai locking portions arsaid slide is in its advanced position.

, 2.,An ammunition feedbox comprisinga con-.

tainer having a cartridgeexit, a. cover hinged to the container and having a cuteout-portion on its forward edge, a slide mounted on said cover and having advanced and retracted positions, a handlehin'ged'to saidslide, means actuated by said handle for locking and unlocking saidslide fin;

its advanced and retracted positionaand a pawl of the cutaway portion of the coverwhenthe hinged tosaid slide and extending downwardly into the cut-out portion of. the forward edg'eof,

the covensaid pawl having a slot formd in each of itsends, said slots engaging the inner edges slide is in its retracted position to hold the pawl in its down position, said pawl having an upper portion which bears against the top of the slide to limit downwardmovement of the pawl. T EUGENE H. IRASEK. l

1. In ,a feedbio x for belted ammunition,

ranged to be disengaged tojthereby release said ammunition for movement out. ofthe box'when 

